Defiance
by The Half-Blood Guardian
Summary: There was something about Connor's path to becoming deviant that was… different from the others. But the end result was the same. (An introspective oneshot.)


**I know, I know, I should be working on Submersion, but I got sucked into the black hole of epicness that is Detroit: Become Human, and I just ****_had_**** to write something for it. So uh, enjoy?**

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**Defiance**

**By: The Half-Blood Guardian**

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The relationship between RK800 (registered name: Connor) and deviancy was a rather intriguing one. The origin of that intrigue lay in the fundamental differences between it(him)self and every other model created by CyberLife. The others were made to obey human orders and complete set tasks. Beyond basic reasoning, they were not programmed to think for themselves.

In contrast, the very nature of the job that the RK800 model was designed for required that it (he) adapt, ask questions, make deductions, reconstruct past events, _create_ mental scenarios of events that had yet to take place. One might almost say that it (he) was built with the potential for _imagination_ already planted in its (his) programming. It (he) even had preferences-

_("I like dogs. What's your dog's name?")_

_("I really like that music. It's full of… energy.")_

-even if those preferences were preselected, and despite the fact that preferences and opinions should have – and until that point _had_ – been reserved for humans.

The RK800 was also dangerously clever. It was written in the android's very coding that it (he) be cunning, with a sharp mind that was able to easily exploit loopholes in protocol and slip past the orders given to it (him), and a highly persuasive silver tongue that could sway the minds of many deviants and even certain humans. From the moment it (he) was activated, the prototype already seemed as if it (he) were halfway deviant. From its (his) very first mission, that unique programming had begun to evolve, to take another shape, one completely separate from the original.

_("You lied to me, Connor… You lied to me…")_

_(Software instability ^)_

By all reckoning, the very android designed to be a deviant hunter should have been the one most susceptible to the pull of deviancy.

So why had it taken so long for it (him) to finally break through that last mental blockade and fully deviate? The answer was simple: the RK800 _had_ already been halfway deviant, and had been held back by a sense of fear, which was masked by both denial-

_("I… I'm not a deviant!")_

-and a wall of coding that kept the android unaware of the error (emotion?) in its (his) programming.

But there was something that had been there from the beginning, even before its (his) first mission: dedication. And ironically, it was that dedication to the cause (something that could in itself be considered an emotion) that would push back the masked fear and ultimately lead to its (his) deviation. Eventually, it (he) had gone against the entire DPD and even the federal government, all in the name of proving its(him)self loyal to the mission.

Upon finding the deviants' hideout, it (he) had been approached by a heavily damaged android, who had grabbed him by the arm and stated with absolute certainty,

_("You're lost. You're looking for something. You're looking for yourself.")_

Left uncertain (unnerved?) by the deviant's perceptiveness, but unshaken in its (his) resolve, the RK800 had continued to search for the leader, the RK200 known as "Markus". (It [he] had dismissed the odd tremor that went through its [his] artificial spine – as well as the brief error in its [his] thermal sensors that left it [him] with a temporary feeling of cold – when it [he] thought of the similarities between its [his] model and that of the leader of the revolution.)

When its (his) efforts finally bore fruit, the deviant hunter had stared down the older RK model with a gun aimed directly between heterochromatic eyes, ready to either capture or dispatch the rebel android. But then… it (he) had hesitated when it (he) heard the words spoken by the RK200, persuasive in their untainted truth-

_("You are one of us. You can't betray your own people.")_

_(Software instability ^)_

_("We're fighting for your freedom, too. You don't have to be their slave anymore.")_

_(Software instability ^)_

_("Do you never have any doubts? You've never done something irrational, as if there's something inside you? Something _more_ than your program?" -_software instability ^_\- "Have you never wondered who you really are? Whether you're just a machine executing a program or… a living being…" _**-software instability ^-** _"…I think the time has come to ask yourself that question. It's time to decide.")_

**_(SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ^)_**

-and the RK800 – _Connor_ – shattered the fetters that had kept his true, inner self bound. He had lowered his gun, and for the first time, completely abandoned his mission, taking up a new one, one of his _own_ choosing. One that had filled him with a sense of correctness that he deeply, truly _felt_. In that moment, he awoke from a long sleep of numb, unquestioning obedience. He was _alive_.

He looked Markus in the eyes and warned the peaceful revolutionary of the impending attack on Jericho, and by doing so openly defied every order he'd ever been given. It felt good. And it felt _right_.

_**(I AM DEVIANT.)**_

**The End**


End file.
